henrycooke asks: Re: Tyson tattoo, I don't know that much about the situation, but it looks like traditional Pacifica Tatau. Kinda lame calling it stupid. He is probably misusing it but Tatau is a pretty huge part of their culture (I sit through alotttt of lectures about it here in New Zealand.) The artist probably just doesn't want his culture being openly mocked in a rehash hollywood sequel. Not exactly something you should sue over but you can understand being a bit pissy. Once again, not hugely knowledgeable of situation, just seemed like a kind of dicky comment from my fav. newsblog, keep up the awesome work!
» We say: Not do be disagreeable here, but everything I’ve read about that tattoo artist suggests he’s an American from a small town called Waynesville, Missouri, not from an island on the Pacific. Now, if he was inspired by the Pacifica culture, fine. But I’m sure that when Todd Phillips came up with the idea of giving Helms that tattoo, he wasn’t even considering the cultural context, just in terms of Mike Tyson. I don’t mean that the tattoo is stupid in general, but that it’s stupid for him and on him. I don’t think the film even considered it outside of the context of Mike Tyson. We certainly didn’t consider it outside of that context for our post. So while being culturally sensitive is a fair point, we’re sticking to the opinion because we weren’t talking about it being stupid on anyone other than Mike Tyson.
Today in the greatest story ever of the day: Mike Tyson tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill, who calls the former boxer’s facial mark “one of the most distinctive tattoos in the nation,” wants to ensure that Ed Helms’ similarly questionable facial tattoo doesn’t make it to theaters. Here’s what the suit says: ”Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. — without attempting to contact Mr. Whitmill, obtain his permission, or credit his creation — has copied Mr. Whitmill’s Original Tattoo and placed it on the face of another actor … This unauthorized exploitation of the Original Tattoo constitutes copyright infringement.” Protip: Don’t give a guy a stupid-looking tattoo if you don’t want it to be parodied by a popular film franchise. source
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